Tuesday 01/28/14

Spot ethanol traded higher in Chicago and New York this afternoon amid speculation a shortage of natural gas may have forced at least two ethanol plants in Wisconsin to cut runs or shut down, potentially reducing domestic production.

Back-to-back arctic blasts have led to a sharp drawdown of U.S. natural gas supply, with the situation aggravated in the upper Midwest by a pipeline explosion two days ago in Canada.

"Swaps are rallying hard because of natural gas," said a trader. "I heard the problem was caused by the pipeline explosion," added another trader.

Prompt ethanol at Argo hub near Chicago traded early trade at $1.82 per gallon, up 2.0 cents on the day. February delivered ethanol in the New York Harbor traded at $2.05 and $2.06 and was last talked at a $2.08 to $2.10 per gallon bid/ask, up 6.5 cents on the day.

Mon Feb 23, 2015 07:08 PM CSTTrade in nearby and deferred ethanol futures has turned lower over the last couple of weeks with traders backing away from the idea that growing driving demand will help to solidify the recently weak market.

Tue Feb 17, 2015 04:31 PM CSTEthanol futures have become much more stable through the first half of February as traders continue to focus on the potential to set the stage for what could become a more stable and narrowly traded price range.